1951 Hudson Hornet Hardtop Engine Turnover Advice Needed

rumblefish351

I just got my Hudson. It's been stored for 30 years and hasn't run or been started.  I want to check to see if engine is locked up. What is the easiest way to turn the engine over by hand? I looked down there and there's not much room to sneak a wrench past the fan.  Any suggestions?

cchancel

There is an piece of sheet metal hanging by 4 bolts underneath the gap between the radiator and the front of the engine. Remove it and turn the engine with a 1-1/2" wrench from under the car (I am assuming the harmonic balancer bolt is the same size on a 308 as a 262). Good luck.

Jon B

Welcome to the forum!

Two or three things you might want to consider before starting the car:

1. Drain the fuel tank of any old gasoline.  Then, put a few gallons in, but don't fill it because if you discover "crap" in the tank or lines (from sitting all that time) you might have to remove the tank or lines, and you don't want to deal with a full tank of gas in addition!

2. Make sure you have a fuel filter somewhere along the line from tank to engine, because (again) if there is corrosion or sediment in the tank or lines, you don't want that going to the engine.  If you don't have a filter you can buy one cheaply at the parts store and install it in the rubber hose connection which I am assuming you have at one or the other side of the fuel pump.

3. Drain the oil from the engine and, better yet, drop the oil pan, clean out the crud, and check for any further crud buildup in the lower part of the engine (wipe out with a rag).

There are probably more things you might do, and our forum folks can fill you in on that.  These are the only things that come to my mind this early in the morning.

rumblefish351

cchancel: TY
Jon B: My uncle gave me the car. He told me it quit running because the fuel tank lining had come off and plugged the fuel line/carb. I was planning on just hooking up a gas can to the fuel pump and bypassing the tank, line, bad gas, etc. So thank you. I checked the oil, it looked bad, does this car have an oil filter, because I didn't see one.  Also, noticed a stripped out spark plug. Thanks again, any suggestions or info is welcome.

Kdancy

Oil filters were optional in most all cars until the mid 50's. One of the reasons for 2500 mile oil changes. Stripped plug? Aluminium head? I would pull all the plugs first and pour in some penetrating oil and let set for a day or two, so it can soak the valve guides and piston rings/walls. Then while the plugs are still out,  see if the engine will turn just using the starter.
Being as you have a stripped plug, that will need addressed before actually running  the  motor.

Jon B

No factory oil filter on many Hudsons, I think you can install one though.  I've been driving mine for almost 45 years without one.

You can yank the tank out and send it to the nearest Gas Tank Renu and they'll clean and coat it, lots of people have this done, I think it's $300 to 350 nowadays.  The gas can method will at least tell you for sure that you have a tank or gas line problem.  Installing a filter would possible filter out the crud if the tank lining isn't that bad.

The fix for the stripped plug would be to install a helicoil.  I've never done it but I think one would drill out the old threads, tap new ones (of a larger size), then install the helicoil which fits the larger size but its inside diameter accommodates the old plug size.
You can even find kits for doing this:

You may need to pull the head (so as to avoid getting metal chips in your cylinder), though perhaps there is a way around this that I don't know of.  However, it wouldn't be a bad idea to pull the head (after doing a compression check) and then inspecting the innards for bad valves, cracked block, headgasket leakage, carbon build-up, etc.  Then put in a nice new headgasket.